So, I feel like I'm going to get a lot of "Dude calm down it's just a comic book you shouldn't try to put an age on these things" but just stay with me.
So, I've been trying to figure out how time in the Marvel universe passes. The Marvel Wiki states that everything after 1962 all the way to present day is compressed. What this means:
Compressed timeline means, in this case, more time passes in real life than in the comics. Not so big a deal, right? Only thing is, apparently it is commonly thought by people whom study the Marvel timeline, that 15 years pass since the compression begins. So, 52 real life years is compressed into a span of 15. Everything from 1962 to 2014 is crammed into 15 years.
By doing some basic math (52 divided by 15), I think approximately 3.5 real life years is one comic book year. Now, with this, you can do some pretty neat things, like calculate the age of Spider-Man in modern day (modern day in Marvel Time, that is.). In Marvels Civil War comic, Spider-Man states he has been Spider-Man since he was 15 years old. His first appearance as Spider-Man was in 1962 - the beginning of the compression. This means that if he was 15 when the compression started, and 15 comic book years pass. Spider-Man is currently 30.
Cool, right?
Now, the issues start with Prof. X and Magneto. You see, originally, Xavier was a soldier in the Korean War. Assuming he was barely 18 and fought in just the last year of the war, the youngest he could be is 42 in modern comic day (MCD), and he could be, in the event he was 21 years of age when joining the army and fought the whole war, 48. BUT, it was retconned and they said he fought in the vietnam war.
Cause of Marvel's compressed timeline, the youngest Xavier could've been for that, assuming he was barely 18 and only did the last year, he could be... 20 years old, MCD. The oldest he could be, assuming he was 21 (due to joining army right out of university, that's just an estimate and I've no idea how long he actually went to school for), and fought the entire 'nam war, is 43. Retconned Xavier is 43, MAX.
Now, Magneto considers Prof. X a colleague. However, he was a child in WWII. BEFORE the compression began. I assume he was around 10 years old in World War II, due to images of him and the like. If he was 10 in 1945, he would be 27 when compression begins. If he was 10 in 1939, he would be 33 when compression begins. The youngest he can be, due to compression, is 42. His youngest, is almost Xaviers oldest. With a max of 48, he would be calling Xavier, half an entire decade younger than him, an equal and colleague of his.
And due to the compression continuing, and Marvel not correcting their timeline, their age gap will drift further and further until it's an unimaginably large gap.
Also, originally it was stated that Thing and Mister Fantastic fought in WWII. They'd have to be adults in WWII, meaning that they are both older than Magneto. I've calculated that they would be at minimum around 51 years old. Odd, hm? However, it was retconned a bit in the sense that Marvel just says they fought in 'a war' instead of WWII. Also, Wolverine was said to be born 1886. With compression, he would be about 90 in MCD.
Now I can't remember what comic specifically, but it was stated multiple times that MCD (again, modern comic day) is 2014. But if compression started in 1962.. What? 52 years in 15 years means that.. Gah!
Unless, if modern comic day is 2014, the 'beginning' of compression was really 1999! 15 years before modern comic day! But.. *clears throat* That would make some characters, say, Magneto, have a minimum age of 79, and Xavier having a min age of 57. Now, if Xavier was his max age he would be about 79 as well, but.. Mister Fantastic and the Thing. They would be a minimum of 87 years old, and, well, they definitely do NOT look 87. Their max.. 96-ish. Also, Wolverine, stated to be born in 1886, would be 128. Characters would be.. older. Much older.
Well, if it started in 1962, and only 15 years pass.. Wouldn't that make it 1977? Well, er.. Modern technology being available in 1977 purely due to compression.. Er? and then of course, the times when it was stated the comic happened in 2014.. Hmph.
Also, I just want to say there is no OFFICIAL compression rate or anything, but as I said it's generally been accepted that 15 years pass in total. If that's the case, it means every 3 and a half years in real life is one comic year.
1962 - start
1965 - Year one
1969 - year 2
1972 - year 3
1976 - year 4
1979 - year 5
1983 - year 6
1986 - year 7
1990 - year 8
1993 - year 9
1997 - year 10
2000 - year 11
2004 - year 12
2007 - year 13
2011 - year 14
2014 - year 15
2018 - Year 16 (the 15th year has much to go..)
I'm having A LOT of trouble wrapping my head around all this. Am I just missing something obvious here? I just want Marvel time to make sense but this is giving me such a headache..
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I've lost count, is Spiderman still not allowed to date Mary Jane?
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Seriously at this point I've have little to no interest in either DC or Marvel's comic lines, much of the material has gotten to complicated for me and good chunk of it (mostly on the DC side) isn't even that good. If I can give any advice, attempt reading a comic you're interested in, specifically the first issue of that comic, and if you can't get what's going on then I would just recommend putting it down.
I'm an avid comic fan I read a great deal of Marvel's new comics and have read lots of their old, but... The way time works REALLY bothers me. Maybe it's cause I'm a continuity freak who makes giant chronologies in his spare time, but the thought that 52 years of content has been compressed into 15 comic years just destroys my brain. And another issue is, let's say you pick up an X-Men comic. You might not need to read the series before it, or after, but what if you like it?
If you like it chances are you'd be interested in prequels and sequels possibly, and since there's almost certainly NO mention of time at all anymore, you'll have no clue what goes where. And with all the retcons and going back and making origin issues or changing when things happened or any other things.. It confuses readers. XD
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Sometimes I dress up as Slender Man and sneak up on people at night.
So, I've been trying to figure out how time in the Marvel universe passes. The Marvel Wiki states that everything after 1962 all the way to present day is compressed. What this means:
Compressed timeline means, in this case, more time passes in real life than in the comics. Not so big a deal, right? Only thing is, apparently it is commonly thought by people whom study the Marvel timeline, that 15 years pass since the compression begins. So, 52 real life years is compressed into a span of 15. Everything from 1962 to 2014 is crammed into 15 years.
By doing some basic math (52 divided by 15), I think approximately 3.5 real life years is one comic book year. Now, with this, you can do some pretty neat things, like calculate the age of Spider-Man in modern day (modern day in Marvel Time, that is.). In Marvels Civil War comic, Spider-Man states he has been Spider-Man since he was 15 years old. His first appearance as Spider-Man was in 1962 - the beginning of the compression. This means that if he was 15 when the compression started, and 15 comic book years pass. Spider-Man is currently 30.
Cool, right?
Now, the issues start with Prof. X and Magneto. You see, originally, Xavier was a soldier in the Korean War. Assuming he was barely 18 and fought in just the last year of the war, the youngest he could be is 42 in modern comic day (MCD), and he could be, in the event he was 21 years of age when joining the army and fought the whole war, 48. BUT, it was retconned and they said he fought in the vietnam war.
Cause of Marvel's compressed timeline, the youngest Xavier could've been for that, assuming he was barely 18 and only did the last year, he could be... 20 years old, MCD. The oldest he could be, assuming he was 21 (due to joining army right out of university, that's just an estimate and I've no idea how long he actually went to school for), and fought the entire 'nam war, is 43. Retconned Xavier is 43, MAX.
Now, Magneto considers Prof. X a colleague. However, he was a child in WWII. BEFORE the compression began. I assume he was around 10 years old in World War II, due to images of him and the like. If he was 10 in 1945, he would be 27 when compression begins. If he was 10 in 1939, he would be 33 when compression begins. The youngest he can be, due to compression, is 42. His youngest, is almost Xaviers oldest. With a max of 48, he would be calling Xavier, half an entire decade younger than him, an equal and colleague of his.
And due to the compression continuing, and Marvel not correcting their timeline, their age gap will drift further and further until it's an unimaginably large gap.
Also, originally it was stated that Thing and Mister Fantastic fought in WWII. They'd have to be adults in WWII, meaning that they are both older than Magneto. I've calculated that they would be at minimum around 51 years old. Odd, hm? However, it was retconned a bit in the sense that Marvel just says they fought in 'a war' instead of WWII. Also, Wolverine was said to be born 1886. With compression, he would be about 90 in MCD.
Now I can't remember what comic specifically, but it was stated multiple times that MCD (again, modern comic day) is 2014. But if compression started in 1962.. What? 52 years in 15 years means that.. Gah!
Unless, if modern comic day is 2014, the 'beginning' of compression was really 1999! 15 years before modern comic day! But.. *clears throat* That would make some characters, say, Magneto, have a minimum age of 79, and Xavier having a min age of 57. Now, if Xavier was his max age he would be about 79 as well, but.. Mister Fantastic and the Thing. They would be a minimum of 87 years old, and, well, they definitely do NOT look 87. Their max.. 96-ish. Also, Wolverine, stated to be born in 1886, would be 128. Characters would be.. older. Much older.
Well, if it started in 1962, and only 15 years pass.. Wouldn't that make it 1977? Well, er.. Modern technology being available in 1977 purely due to compression.. Er? and then of course, the times when it was stated the comic happened in 2014.. Hmph.
Also, I just want to say there is no OFFICIAL compression rate or anything, but as I said it's generally been accepted that 15 years pass in total. If that's the case, it means every 3 and a half years in real life is one comic year.
1962 - start
1965 - Year one
1969 - year 2
1972 - year 3
1976 - year 4
1979 - year 5
1983 - year 6
1986 - year 7
1990 - year 8
1993 - year 9
1997 - year 10
2000 - year 11
2004 - year 12
2007 - year 13
2011 - year 14
2014 - year 15
2018 - Year 16 (the 15th year has much to go..)
I'm having A LOT of trouble wrapping my head around all this. Am I just missing something obvious here? I just want Marvel time to make sense but this is giving me such a headache..
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Seriously at this point I've have little to no interest in either DC or Marvel's comic lines, much of the material has gotten to complicated for me and good chunk of it (mostly on the DC side) isn't even that good. If I can give any advice, attempt reading a comic you're interested in, specifically the first issue of that comic, and if you can't get what's going on then I would just recommend putting it down.
If you like it chances are you'd be interested in prequels and sequels possibly, and since there's almost certainly NO mention of time at all anymore, you'll have no clue what goes where. And with all the retcons and going back and making origin issues or changing when things happened or any other things.. It confuses readers. XD